Soldering-iron.



No. 872,229. PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907. A. L. GIFFORD.

SOLDBRING IRON.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.14, 1907.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR L. GIFFORD, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOLESTER L. LEWIS, OF OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

SOLDERING-IRON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR L. GIFFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oil City, in the county of Venango and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSoldering-Irons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in soldering irons, and theobject in view is the maintenance of a soldering iron constantly in atinned condition.

Withv this and further objects in view the .invention comprises certainnovel features of construction and combination of elements hereinafterfully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, the figure is a perspective view of a handsoldering iron embodying the features of the present invention;

There has been felt throughout the entire trade in all of the industrialarts employing soldering apparatus the need for a soldering iron whichwill be constantly maintained in a condition wherein heating of the ironis all that is necessary for rendering the same in condition forimmediate operation. In the present art the term tinned is employed todesignate a condition of the soldering iron wherein the adhesion betweenthe heated iron and certain portions of molten solder will exceed thecohesion of the molten solder. In other words, it is common when asoldering iron has been heated to too great an extent, or the tinnedsurface destroyed in any other Way to apply an acid or rosin to theheated iron and then apply the iron to tin with frictional contact tocause a portion of the tin to adhere to the iron and produce abrightened surface thereon. The condition thus acquired by the iron isknown in the art as tinned and makes possible the picking upof-particles of solder directly on the heated iron. It has been commonheretofore to employ pure copper irons, which in practice have requiredfrequent tinning as a result of overheating or of collecting foreignsubstances during operation and from other causes, and it is the objectof the present invention to overcome the annoyance and delay occasionedby the necessity for frequent tinning, regardless of the cause for thenecessity for the tinning.

l/Vith this object in view I have produced as a result of many years ofexperimenting, a soldering iron consisting of a compound of copper andblock tin, which iron is capable of obviating the difficulties aboveexplained, the copper serving as a base and the tin compoundingtherewith and imparting to the resultant compound the quality ofadhesion for solder.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated an iron which consistsof the usual body portion 1, which may be of any size or shape desired,and formed with a tapered point 2 designed for facilitating solderingoperations and for the concentration of heat from the body portion ofthe iron. A handle 3 is preferably connected to the end of the bodyportion 1 opposite the point 2, and the free end of the handle 3 isprovided with a suitable grip 4.

In practice the point 2 is usually employed in erforming solderingoperations, and it is on y necessary to heat the iron sufficiently forthe soldering operation and then to proceed without stopping for tinningthe iron. It is to be noted that it is not necessary to limit thesoldering operation to the point 2, as any portion of the body portion 1may be used for performing soldering operations, and the molten solderwill adhere to any portion of the body portion 1 without the usual orordinary operation of tinning as quickly and readily as to the point 2.

It is to be noted that while I have illustrated a hand soldering iron,the present invention is by no means limited to a hand iron, but iscapable of being employed in con junction with any form of solderingiron whatever whether machine operated or manually operated.

The best method of producing my improved soldering iron is by depositinginto a quantity of molten copper a required quantity of block tin, andif preferred the mixture may be stirred, although stirring is notabsolutely necessary for producing the desired results. Of course, ahardening chemical or other substance may be introduced into the moltenmetal if preferred. I find by eXperimenting that the degrees of hardnessof the resultant product may also be varied by varying the proportionsof copper and tin, an

increased proportion of copper increasing the hardness and a decreasedproportion of copper decreasing the hardness.

I find that I can produce a successful soldering iron embodying thepresent invention by employing proportions of about one part tin tosixteen parts copper or even a less proportion of tin may besuccessfully used when a high rade of solder is employed, but perhaps aIittle better result is obtained by the use of two parts tin to sixteenparts copper. I find that as much as five parts tin may be used tosixteen parts of cop er and produce a successful and highly efficientsoldering iron, but when this amount of tin is employed the ironproduced is designed preferably for being heated by gas, and when heatedby charcoal care must be exercised not to raise the temperature of theiron to the melting point, the melting point being at a considerablylower temperature than with irons containing a larger proportion ofcopper.

I wish it distinctly understood however, that I do not consider myselflimited to any specific relationship of proportions of one metal withrespect to another as it will be of course obvious that the proportionsof tin and copper may be varied and chemicals or other materials may beintroduced for giving therequired hardness, even though largerproportions of tin are employed than above indicated.

In experimenting with my present improved soldering iron, I have foundthat regardless of the amount of heat applied to the iron, so long asthe iron is not melted, it never loses its property of adhesion forsolder, and while the regular copper iron, when excessively heated losesits coating of solder and its property of adhesion for solder, whereuponsuch ordinary copper iron must be retinned, the present improved ironmay be excessively heated and the only thing necessary for placing theiron in condition for immediate use is to permit it to cool down to asoldering temperature, the ordinary process of tinning beingunnecessary.

What I claim is,

1. A soldering iron comprising a body portion formed of a compound oftin and copper in such proportions as to impart to the iron, whenheated, the inherent quality of adhesion for solder.

2. A soldering iron comprising a compound of a relatively largeproportion of copper and a relatively small proportionof tin, theproportions being such as to give the iron when heated the inherentquality of adhesion for solder.

3. A soldering iron comprising a body portion formed of a compound of abase material With tin in such proportions as to impart to the iron whenheated the inherent quality of adhesion for solder.

4. A soldering iron comprising a body portion formed of a compound ofcopper and a solder adhering element compounded in such proportions asto impart to the iron when heated the inherent quality of adhesion forsolder. 1

5. A soldering iron comprising a body ortion formed of a base materialand a solder adhering element compounded in such proportions as topermanently impart to the iron, when heated, the inherent qualityofadhesion for solder regardless of any degree of heat applied to theiron below the melting point.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR L. GIFFORD. Witnesses:

GEO. W. MORGAN, LESTER L. LEURS.

